


Burn the Green Monster

by BlueTulips



Series: The Murillo-Marquina home [8]
Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: Domestic Violence, F/M, Gen, Nightmares, Other, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:21:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25530502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueTulips/pseuds/BlueTulips
Summary: Paula and Raquel have nightmares. Fortunately, one is easy to fix and the other is a struggle for life! Sergio is a committed partner to stand by her when the pain becomes unbearable for her knees.
Relationships: Professor | Sergio Marquina & Paula Vicuña, Raquel Murillo/Alberto Vicuña, Raquel Murillo/Paula Vicuña, Raquel Murillo/Professor | Sergio Marquina
Series: The Murillo-Marquina home [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831684
Comments: 26
Kudos: 66





	Burn the Green Monster

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Anna_kpz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anna_kpz/gifts).



> Week 2 in Palawan, Raquel realises she brought a heavy baggage with her and wanted to free Sergio from his obligation. He deserves better, she felt. We are in this together, he assured. 
> 
> I hope you would accept this gift @Halfbloodpriiincesss on behalf of all our hatred to Raquel's abusive ex-husband!

“Darling, everything smells delicious!”, Marivi eyes widened at the spread on the dinner table. Creamy chicken pasta, Mushroom soup, Barbecued carrots and pineapples, roasted corn, garlic roasted potatoes and custard for desert. 

“Is it Christmas in Palawan ?!” , Paula joined Marivi’s wonder.

“No No, Sergio and I had extra time today, so we decided to treat all of us.”, Raquel replied accompanied by Sergio's shy gleam. They both were celebrating the multiple orgasms they had in the afternoon. The other women, thankfully, did not seem to notice; their eyes were all on the food as they made themselves comfortable on their chairs waiting to dive in.

  
Paula never cared for soups , but she finished her entire serving today. _Good Job, Raquel_ , she patted herself on the back mentally.   
"The soup is great, my love", Sergio commented out loud, reading her mental self-appreciation. 

"Hmmmmmm, the Pasta ....", Marivi hummed, "is so creamy, Darling!!". 

"It's Sergio's recipe, Mamma", she shot him a smile wrinkling her eyes. 

"Sergio, it's a treat to my guts!. Such a smooth sauce!. Will you teach me ?", Marivi asked very eagerly.

"Of course!", he nodded. 

"Mamma!! Mamma!, I thought you forgot about our favourite potatoes ?? Since you did not make it so long.", the little girl stuffing two potatoes in her mouth and managed to push words through it. 

"Paula, please don't speak with food in your mouth", Raquel said sternly making the kid frown. But, Sergio caressed her hair to stretch her frown to a slight smile. 

"Sergio! This potato is my Papa's favorite.", Paula recalled a memory from Madrid. This was their second week in Palawan and Paula seemed to enjoy so far. She got along with Sergio well and was very happy with Raquel's undivided attention. Her mother wasn't chasing the bad guys anymore or working late. Paula was intimidated by the size of their new home and was not very thrilled about sleeping in her room by herself. On the first day, she sneaked into the bed with Raquel and Sergio. Thereafter, she invited herself to sleep between them. Sergio enjoyed her company, even when she sleepily threw her legs around him in the middle of the night. Raquel was incredibly happy with them bonding and was more happy that she did not talk about her father in any conversations. That did not last too long.

"I see!!, They are amazing, Paula. I really like them too.", Sergio responded with certain excitement in his voice. Raquel only looked up from her plate in complete horror unable to chew her food further. _Oh fuck,_ she thought.

"They are lovely!. My dad took us to a restaurant umm...", she began to recount her memory. "Umm.. I do not remember the name, though. Mamma, Do you ?"

She finally swallowed the contents down her throat and bluntly said without any attempt to recall, "No, I don't."

"Okay. So, we went to this restaurant for Mamma's birthday. Papa ordered the potatoes though Mamma did not want to try it, but she ended up liking it anyways. Papa loved it so much as well. No , Mamma ?" Paula asked her mother with wide eyes. Raquel simply hummed and nodded. Marivi just went for a second serving of the Pasta ignoring all of them. Sergio reached out to her knee under the table, gently caressed it and gave her a soothing smile. 

"Then, After many weeks, Mamma tried the recipe at home and we really loved it.", Paula eyes were sparkling at her happy recollection, whereas, Raquel's eyes looked dark faking a smile on her face. _"Sweetheart, the potatoes are nice. Not as nice the restaurant's. But, good attempt!", she remembered Alberto praising her like she was a puppy. "Maybe, next time stick to recipes you know ? Let's not experiment with our stomachs.", he also ridiculed, for which she simply laughed along._

Reading Raquel's eyes and her smile, Sergio comprehended that the incident wasn't exactly cheerful for her as it was for Paula. He, also, noticed that she did not touch her potatoes thereafter. He had to pat her knees to snap her out of her thoughts. He kept a smile and his hand on her to show his support. The rest of the dinner was not as awkward as it could have turned out, as Sergio compensated for Raquel's absence of involvement. Marivi yawned mid-way through her meal and as anticipated, went straight to bed after dinner. Raquel dropped all the dirty dishes in the sink and excused herself. 

  
"Sergio, I want to sleep in my room, today.", Paula declared with a small yawn.

"Are you sure ?", Sergio asked and the kid nodded assertively. Sergio followed her to her bedroom, tucked her in and with no further adieu, hurried to his room to check on Raquel. 

"Raquel, are you okay ?", he asked hesitantly. He spotted her on the floor folding their fresh laundry. 

"I am _great_ ", she answered with a smile, but he refused to accept her disguise.

"Do you want to talk about it ?". 

"No.", she said coldly and went back to the laundry. 

"Raquel, you zoned out after hearing his name." 

"No, I didn't. I was zoned out by something else."

"Really ?"

"Yea, my daughter, the kid I love so much, remembers her dad's favourite food. The creamy chicken pasta is my favourite. But, _no!!! no!! no!!_ , she doesn't remember that", her eyes responded to her anguish with a small tear. 

"Oh no Ra-", Sergio wanted to explain why Paula actually talked about that memory, figuring that Raquel did not listen to the whole conversation. 

She cut him off. "Even for memories of something as basic as food, I have to compete with her great father, _Alberto Vicuña_!!!". Sergio was feeling rage building in his body but unsure if it was due to hearing his full name or her calling him a 'great father' or a memory of her past life with that man still strong enough to destroy the love of his life in front of his _goddamn_ eyes. He calmed his rage down and patiently advanced towards her, "Raquel,"

"Don't! I need some space. I am sorry I made my ex-husband's favourite food for you. I only remember it as a dish I worked so hard to perfect the recipe. But, pathetic me, forgot that I only did it to _please_ that _bastard_! I _FINALLY_ presented it to him after FIVE failed attempts to earn his respect, instead got more ridiculed and humiliated... _in front of my own child._ ", she began to shake in anger. He hung his head and listened to her. 

"What could I do. ?? I _laughed_!! As he _mocked_ me, I _laughed_ to not create a scene in front of _Paula_. But, _of course_ , she doesn't remember that!. To her, he is this great man who tries new things that her _boring mother_ won't _dare_. And _Yay_ , we all loved it! _Hurray_!! Praise the hero of the world!", she kicked a pile of neatly folded clothes and began to cry violently.

"Raquel, please.... please Can I hold you ?", he begged as she held her stomach and cried more. 

"No. _You_ , stay away from me! _You_! _You_ could not divert that conversation into literally anything else in the world!. But you didn't.", she slowly shifted the direction of her anger towards him. 

"You saw how dark and shattered I was and continued with that conversation! You wanted to be her hero and it didn't occur to take my side.", she stared at him feeling betrayed, with her tear filled eyes, her face totally red and wet and, her body trembling with the overwhelming amount of emotions. 

"Raquel, I swear .. I didn't.. I am so sorry. I will learn to handle it. Please don't cry. It breaks my heart."

  
"I will be at the hammock, if you need anything else from me.", she cleared her throat, announced looking away from him and marched off.

The moment she zoned out, he should have sensed trouble and distracted Paula. But, Paula's intention of sharing that memory was not to praise her father. Unfortunately, Raquel never heard it. It doesn't matter now. He needs to hold her and make her understand that he is on her side until life allows it.

He cleaned up their room, folded all the scattered clothes and kept their bed ready for her to sleep when she is ready. The entire house was quiet and their front yard light was lit. He could see Raquel's figure crawled on the hammock on her side facing the ocean. He knows she didn't like him to join her, but he decided to sit on the porch until she was ready to talk. His heart sank in grief when he reached the front yard and heard her sobs. He decided to respect her space and waited for her patiently on the porch. 

  
Few hours passed and her sobs finally calmed down, he could hear her footsteps approaching him. "I am going to bed. What about you ?", she muffled.

"I was waiting for you, dear". He walked by her side without touching her. She knew Sergio would have cleaned the room for her and she was right. She buried herself under their blanket, while he just stood staring at her. 

"Care to join ?", she asked with wide eyes. He obliged and joined her under the blanket. 

"Raquel, I do not know if you would be comfortable. But, I would like to hold you, my love"

"Please do.", she whispered and he immediately wrapped his arms around her. "Tighter!", she asked. After a couple of sniffs, deep breathes, she finally fell asleep. Sergio, however, stared at the roof, thinking about her. Her tears broke his heart, her trauma shook him. Their souls were convoluted; they felt things together. He played today's incident on his mind repeatedly. He knew she had a traumatic relationship, but did not know any further details other than what she told him in The Hanoi. Back then, he was a stranger and she kept it summarised. He, selfishly, did not want to know more fearing he would break his ideologies and plan to kill the bastard. He hated himself for not being more approachable for her to open up and, for not being her anchor when she lost balance. All these guilt provoking thoughts made him involuntarily punch his own forehead. So, immersed in his thoughts, he nearly missed Raquel's emotional appeal next to him.

_"Please..", she pleaded._

"Raquel ?", he jumped out of his thoughts and quickly switched on the night lamp. She did not flinch to the brightness. 

_"I will behave better next time...."_

"Wake up, Raquel.", he gently whispered in her ears. 

_"Please.. let... me go this time. I am still bruised from the last.."_ , she cried as her breathing escalated. OH SHIT, his stomach knotted sensing her nightmare.

"Raquel, sweetheart, It's Sergio. You are safe. You are in Palawan. Raquel...", he helplessly teared up.

 _"Alberto, please...How about you punish me next week ?... Please....."_ , she tried to negotiate with her abuser. She, quickly, crawled into a foetal position saving her torso and face. "RAQUEL..", Sergio screamed and shook her harder this time. She jumped out of their bed and crawled to the nearest wall. Tears falling out of his eyes, he had no time to wipe them. Looking at hiding her face against the wall and repeatedly pleading to be left alone, made his stomach tight.

"Raquel..", he slowly approached her again, without touching her and hoped to get her to open her eyes.

"Raquel, please..", he gently caressed her back. "Sergio ?", she woke up gently moving away from the wall towards him. He took her on his lap and gently rocked her until she was fully in her senses. 

"What am I doing against the wall ?", she rested her heavy head on his chest.

"You had a nightmare, my love. ", he caressed her hair, massaging her head. 

"Oh fuck!. I am so sorry to wake you. " she looked up at him apologetically. "Go back to sleep. I will be fine.".

"How about I hold you a bit ? You sleep and I will sleep next to you, my love ?, he proposed. She did not have the energy to protest further. She put her head back on his chest and wrapped her arm around his neck very tight that he was a bit suffocated but he didn't complain. He pressed her forehead with gentle kisses and got a sniff in return. He caressed her back and whispered kind words in her ears until she fell asleep. He gently put her on their bed and freed himself to grab some water from the kitchen. He quietly went out of the room and tippy toed to the kitchen.

"Mamma..", he heard Paula cry in her room. Paula usually spoke in her sleep, but this sounded definitely more distressed than her regular tone. 

"Mamm..Mamma", she cried again and Sergio opened the door. The girl was having a nightmare too. _Oh no,_ he approached her hesitantly.

"Paula ? Wake up little one", he gently caressed her head. 

She woke up instantly, but looked very confused. She rubbed her eyes and stared at Sergio for a while.

"Are you okay, honey ?"

"Sergio", she said sleepily. She jumped into his arms and hid her face in the crook of his neck. "I want my Mamma"

"Your Mamma... umm... is asleep. But, you can tell me what's wrong ?"

  
She scanned his face for a while and decided to give him a chance. "The green monster took you and Mamma away.", the girl said with sad puppy dog face and droopy eyes.

"Ah, the green monster! How about you come sleep with us today and I will show you how to chase him away tomorrow ?", he gently caressed the scared little girl in the back while she rested on his neck. She only nodded to his proposal and already half asleep in his embrace. He carried her to their bedroom, she was fully asleep by then. He laid down next to Raquel and placed the little one on his other side. She, however, dissatisfied with her new security arrangement, climbed on top of him and slept on his stomach the whole night. 

With Raquel tightly tucked into his shoulders and Paula on top of him, Sergio wished Andres was around to see the family man he has become. The night did not deprive him too long, he slept in their warmth. 

  
Raquel woke up from his shoulders to find Paula sleeping on his other side wrapped around his torso. She imagined Paula had a nightmare and Sergio brought her in. She smiled and inhaled the serene bliss lying in front of her. That did not last long, as she frowned at how she exploded on him yesterday and he was a thorough gentleman to her. She, also, remembered how she woke him up with her crazy nightmares and how his sleep was interrupted again by her daughter. She exhaled deeply fearing how her love was destroying him. She slowly walked out of their room to the hammock and spent the morning staring into space. Sergio halted her solitude by joining her. 

"You are awake early ?", he broke the ice. They hadn't spoken properly since yesterday and he did not want her to blame herself for it. 

"Yea, I wasn't sleepy.", she smiled at him, joining him on the porch. 

"Paula slept with us ?"

"Yea, she had a nightmare..", they both walked towards he beach.

"Ah, the green monster ?", she asked and he nodded.   
"She will be fine. She always gets this nightmare when we move to a new house. It has happened before.". She sighed and sat on the beach. Sergio sat behind her, placed her in between his legs and wrapped around her. As they enjoyed their warmth in silence, he pressed little kissed on her neck. 

"Sergio... Umm.. Can we talk ?", Raquel hesitantly asked and he kissed her head in response. 

"About yesterday, I don't even know what to say. I am truly sorry for how I acted. You did not deserve it.", she said apologetically.

"Raquel, will you patiently listen to me. I want to explain what actually happened ?", she nodded.

"Paula told me about that incident, because she wanted the three of us to find such a food for us to try together. Just like her memory in Madrid, she wanted to re-create it with me!". She looked at him shocked.

"It was a happy moment for me and I am sorry I selfishly continued the conversation without considering the psychological impact that incident had on you. You are right I should taken your side.", she shook her head, but he interrupted her.

"You think Alberto has a better place in Paula's head. But, I think you are wrong. She was scared from the nightmare yesterday and she asked for her 'Mamma'. The green monster came and she wanted you to help her. Not anyone else.", earning her smile. 

"You know what felt worse ? ", he asked. She turned to him with a frown. "I saw how you trembled yesterday at a memory of him. And ,me .. the professor has been the reason why you had to face him thrice during the heist. I cannot begin to imagine how you felt."

She shook her head strongly. " No No. I was seeing him during court hearings anyways. So, that did not affect me.. or. at least it did not cause more damage. Don't worry. Plus, I had my sweet Salva to look forward to, everyday.", she smiled caressing her beard. 

"Well, I am still here, Raquel. I am the same man, I was.", he held her face.

"That's what I wanted to talk about."

"About how sweet I am ? I don't mind discussing that.", they both chuckled softly.

Raquel stared at the beach took deep breaths. "Listen, Sergio. I understand we are deeply in love with each other. I know you promised to cross the ocean with me and my family. But, I would totally understand if you don't want to.". He was stunned by her words, he pulled her face to read her mind and she meant every word.

"This is your first love. You do not want someone who is as damaged as me.. who comes with so much baggage.. I mean... my daughter was sleeping on you yesterday...You shouldn't have to deal with all that.", wiping her tear.

"Trust me, if I knew I had such severe nightmares and memories that had the power to break me like yesterday, I would have stayed away from you the day I realised I fell for you. The last thing I want is to scream my ex-husband's name when I am in bed with my boyfriend.", she chuckled sadly.

"Raquel..", he wanted to stop her, but she continued. 

"I think I was selfish. I had accepted I was going to be alone for the rest of my life. But.. When you showed up in my life, I only looked at it as the last hope I have... but never thought about the havoc I would bring to your life.", her words wounded in his heart. Since he met her, he only wanted her to live the life she deserved with him. If anything, he brought the havoc. He walked in like a storm and threw her already hanging life off balance. But, there she was feeling selfish for trying to be happy. Though her presumptuous words hurt him and pissed him off, he wanted to speak to her mind out fearlessly. He yearned to be her single constant in life that won't leave her side when life got tough. 

"So.. Palawan looks nice. I will take Paula and my mother to some place. We will start off living by ourselves with your help, initially... if you could...until I find a way to make money... I will leave you alone and you should move on with no hard feelings. Be happy with a woman who isn't _psychotic_.". That's it , he was pissed at her. Hurt, but angry that she is giving up so easily in an attempt to protect him. In reality, she was only running away fearing he would leave her some day. She wanted to pull the trigger, instead of awaiting her bullet, this time. 

  
"Raquel, are you done?!!", she looked down understanding the intensity of her words. "If your goal was to hurt me. Congratulations, Mission accomplished!!".

"I.. Ser..", she mouthed, but he cut her firmly. It was his turn to throw some sense into the woman. "But, if you think your little episodes scare me, you are totally wrong. You are scared, I see that. You are running away from getting hurt, trust me, I have done that. You are insecure, I admire that."

  
"Also, there is something you need to know.", she attentively listened to what he has got to say. "This is not your first nightmare , while I was around.... Nor the first time you said his name in bed.", he shrugged like it did not bother him. She looked with wide eyes and terrified if it happened last week. "The night we spent together in your house in Madrid... that was the first time.", he clarified.

"I did not understand what was going on. You flinched and kept muttering 'Alberto, please.. please don't.. sorry'... I assumed it was a nightmare, so I held you tight. And, you slept peacefully in my embrace."

"And the next day, you promised a future with me and my family." she smiled and rested her head on him. He knew, all along. He knew yet he wanted a life with her. 

"You did not remember the nightmare the next day. It wasn't worth reminding you anyways. So, I dropped it. We knew each other for a short period, so I did not want to embarrass you."

"I don't know what to say.", she rubbed her face hard with her palm. _He knew what he was getting into_ , she thought.

"I knew what I was getting into.", he said out loud and she jerked at how their minds were synced.

"Raquel, I respected your instincts when you pointed your gun at me on our first date. I loved how truthful your eyes were when you spoke about your abuse to me in The Hanoi. In a pretentious world, your eyes only spoke the truth. I longed for your affection, when I saw wonderful the mother you were, when you ran to Paula. I adored your insecurity when you kept hiding the stretch marks on your stomach with your hands when you lied naked in front of me. I forcibly moved your hands to kiss it. That was me assuring you that you are the prettiest woman I have ever seen.", caressing her stomach slowly. 

"Ah... I thought you had some stretch marks fetish. I mean.... you kissed it 100 times.", they both laughed with their hands interlocked on her stomach. 

"Well, you eventually stopped covering it. So, I guess it worked."

"We both have a million reasons why one shouldn't date us. You have your baggages, believe me, I have mine. I am going to be a pain in your ass.", he continued.

"Out of the 50 million people in Spain, what are the chances you could be the inspector-in-charge ? What are the odds for us to meet ? Very tiny. It happened. What made you open up about your past to me in the Hanoi ? Or ask me out ? Take me to your house? Why couldn't you kill me at Toledo? "

"Raquel, why didn't I just plant a bug on you ? Or caused other damages to you intentionally ? But, instead I fell in love. I spent 20 years of my life planning they heist. That meant nothing, in front of you. The 5 days I spent with you was eternal bliss. I was selfish to want more and ruin your life in return for my greed. "

"So, the next time you utter such nonsense in front of me, I am going to bite that soft lip of yours.!", they laughed spilling the tear flooded in their eyes. 

"You belong in that house with our family and you are not running away from us. You don't get to escape, inspectora"

"Fine, professor", she nodded and kissed him very deep. 

"One of these days, when you feel ready, you can talk to me more about the abuse. If you want to spit out the details to someone and get it out of your mind. I will be that person for you. I wont judge you or use any of it against you. I swear on my life.", he held her face and wiped her tears. She just nodded and sighed heavily. 

"Did you really want to find another house in Palawan and move out of here ?", he asked curiously.

  
"Well, yeah. I mean...", she shrugged and screamed as he pushed her into the sand. He went after her lips as he warned her previously. He gave it a nice hard bite and then, kissed it tenderly. His ran his hands down her shirt, pinched her nipples playfully hard earning a soft moan from her. 

  
"Hey!. Are you guys having a mud fight ?", Paula screamed from the porch. 

Raquel laughed at Sergio's mortified looks beneath the layer of sand stuck to his face after he unmounted her and landed his lips on the sand. 

"Yes honey, We are. Do you want to join ?", Raquel pushed words through her flushed-pink bitten lips. 

"No. Sergio, you said you will teach me how to chase the green monster away.!", she ordered him to be at her service this instant. 

He sighed, rubbed the mud off his face and nodded at the girl to join them. The little girl ran and sat on her Mom's laps.

"Now, Paula, You have to listen carefully. This is a family secret. My mom passed it to me. I will tell you. You can't tell anyone okay ?", Sergio whispered with his index-finger pressed to his lips. 

Paula listened attentively without blinking her wide eyes. Raquel played along looking curious. "All you need is a paper and a pen. You find a private spot in the house, probably your room or any room where none of us are around. You write your fears about the green monster, any other fears and also write what you want to do the green monster to chase him. Things like.... maybe you want to throw water balloons at him ? .. When you ready, you burn the papers. Your fears will burn with it.", Sergio dictated. 

"With Adult supervision.", Raquel added. 

"yes, of course. You call one of us when you want to burn them. We won't read your papers. We will help you burn them.", he assured her that it was going to be a discreet operation.

The little one looked convinced, "I want you to burn it. It's your idea. So, I will bring them to you when it's ready and you burn it. ", she sealed the deal and ran into the house. 

"This is an interesting psychological experiment."

"Well, it worked on me. ", he admitted.

"Wait, you actually tried it ?"

"Yea, I had to have emergency surgery as a child. It was unplanned, so, of course, I was scared."

"Of course.!", she mockingly agreed.

"I was terrified and cried hiding my face in the pillow. My brother told me about this. Well, he was an amazing parenting figure in my life. I believed in him, so I did as he said. He burnt it and guess what? I was not scared about the surgery.", he stared into space thanking his brother. 

Raquel held him tight when he teared up thinking about his brother. The two stayed there for a long time until her stomach growled.

"We should go.", he laughed attentively kissing her stomach.

He got up first, dusted off the sand and helped her get up. They walked into the house to make some omelettes. Paula came running out, "Sergio, there you go. BURN THEM", she said gritting her teeth. Raquel chuckled and kissed her head , "That's the spirit, baby."

  
"Paula wait outside for me. I will bring the lighter.", they both smiled as the child ran out as asked. 

"By the way , Raquel. I will be going to the market after breakfast... umm. to buy a baby monitor.", he said adjusting his glasses. _Of course, he has a Plan B for everything_ , she thought. 

"Sure, honey. Go now!", pointing at an impatient Paula. 

The rest of the day was peaceful. They went out on walks with Marivi, build sand castles with Paula and mocked each other. Though Sergio was worried, Paula confidently ran into her bedroom to sleep. Raquel told her a story and the little girl closed her eyes very soon. Marivi finished her tea and retired early.

  
"Do you mind if I spend time in the study a bit ?", Sergio asked and Raquel shook her head. In fact, she was happy with him leaving her alone. She has been thinking about Sergio's experiment and wanted to try it out herself. Before, she shared her terrorising past with him, she wanted to try his theory. Although, it worked for him as a child and it might work for her little girl too and she was not that young, she wanted to desperately try anything to revoke the control her ex-husband still has on her mind. 

She collected a bunch of papers, a lighter and a pen, and, sat on the hammock. Wondering where to start, she began with how she met him and started writing about his abuses - physical, emotional and sexual. She wrote it all. The papers had teardrops that she shed. Her words intensified proportional to the level of abuse and she found herself shaking and trembling, yet managed to scribble. After several hours of pouring her heart out on the papers, she held them and sobbed quietly. Her dark red flushed face, forehead veins ready to pop, bloodshot eyes from a migraine and continuous violent tears, quivering lips and her body shaking from revisiting the facts of her past could get a rock to crack feeling at least one millionth of her excruciating pain. She took deep breathes to pull herself together and finally stood on the porch. Her shaky hands could crumble the papers into a roll, but struggled to light a fire. A steady hand gently held her, "May I ?", he gently asked.   
She cried even harder sensing his presence behind her. She turned to hug him tight, rested her face in the crook of his neck and sobbed hard. Her entire body shaking, his neck wet from the flood that was pouring from her eyes. He gently caressed her back with one hand and held her head with the other.

"Everything is in it, Sergio.", she muffled shakily.

"All the slaps, kicks, pushes, punches, verbal abuse, insults, humiliation, threats, emotional manipulation, non consensual....", she held him even tighter, buried her face and cried loudly. His tears falling on her hair and his body shivering furiously. 

  
"Every time he forced me in.... bed...", she dropped on her knees and Sergio hurried to hold her tight from falling too hard. They were knelt on the ground. He held her very tight holding and gritted his teeth in uncontrollable rage. "EVERYTHING. is.. in.. there..", she stammered, sobbing. 

"Pl..e..as..e burn it, Ser..gio.", she pleaded. "Shh...Cry, my love. We will do it together when you are ready.", he whispered in her ears. He caressed her, whispering sweet words while she cried for a couple of minutes. 

"Okay, I am..", she finally uttered wiping her sore swollen face. Sergio held the papers in front of them and burnt a corner that soon caught on fire. Every tear dropped words burnt in front of their eyes. 

"You are very brave, my love. The strongest woman I know.", he whispered as she rested her weak teary eyed face on his shoulders.

"Sergio.. I know.. this won't stop my nightmares. I just wrote down to feel less ashamed of it.", she sniffed to clear her blocked nose. 

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, my love.", he held her head allowing himself to cry a bit. 

"You are so brave, you know that ? You have a tender heart but that doesn't make you weak. It makes you the strongest amongst all of us. You had the courage to believe in love for the second time. Unlike, the coward that I am, using the professor to hide my feelings. You are the bravest, Raquel. I just wish you knew that.", he held her face and made her hear everything he said. 

  
Her eyes as tired as her mind, rested on him. He excused himself to bring a blanket and took her in his arms. They both watched the stars and let the ocean lead them into the night. Paula stopped having those nightmares, the baby monitor was practically an additional precaution. Unfortunately, Raquel still struggled with occasional nightmares. When she did, he held her tight, whispered promising words and they never brought it up the next day. As promised, he willingly waited until she was ready to discuss it with him, and he has been waiting since then.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that was emotional. !! Please Please tell me what you think :D :D I would love to hear your comments. This is a sensitive topic and it is not easy to discuss with your partners. The best partner, in such situations, is the one who doesn't ask too many questions and just stands by to offer supports :D :D. I imagine Sergio was one such a guy!
> 
> happy Sunday!!


End file.
